of Dispensa Emilia

Alfiero Fucelli, President, and Alessandro Medi, Managing Director of Dispensa Emilia

catering and the environment: an increasingly close and synergic link

While it is true that the pandemic has inevitably had repercussions on catering as well, as far as we are concerned it has created important opportunities, accelerating a process of evolution of our business in terms of multi-channelling and, at the same time, sustainability. We have launched both delivery services – in a sustainable version, with riders equipped with electric vehicles – and take-away services, which are giving us undisputed satisfaction and which we will continue to maintain after the emergency. Also fundamental was the activation of our application, thanks to which it is not only possible

to order and pay, but with the App&go solution also to park in the dedicated spaces and directly receive delivery of lunch or dinner in the car. These new services, however, obviously do not take away the priority from the direct experience in the restaurant, which remains the best solution and guarantee for appreciating our quality and enjoying conviviality. On the other hand, our uniqueness plays precisely on our mix of tradition and modernity, that is, proposing the best of Emilian cuisine, with the tigella taking centre stage, focusing on an innovative approach in terms of concept, service and, indeed, respect for the environment. Dispensa Emilia currently has 28 restaurants in Emilia Romagna, Lombardy, Tuscany, and Veneto, and we have an ambitious plan of openings underway, 7 or 8, with the intention of expanding also in the regions of Central and Northern Italy where we are not yet present, starting with Piedmont. Just last year we seized the opportunities offered by the particular market situation, opening 9 restaurants. We are present in shopping centres, city centres and, above all, busy shopping streets, such as the Via Emilia, as well as investing in travel retail at the moment in the 2 stations in Milan and Bologna. Having said that, one of the most topical issues for us is sustainability, which is in the foreground now as never before, also in order to tackle the high energy costs. We have a home automation project for the timed use of kitchen appliances, so as to optimise consumption

Alfiero Fucelli

«sustainability starts OptimisatiOn, separate with quality prOduct, then mOves On waste cOllectiOn, use Of recyclable tO energy materials and arrives at delivery by electric vehicles»

▲ Dispensa Emilia in CityLife Shopping District, Milan

Dispensa Emilia

Alessandro Medi by reducing energy peaks. We have committed ourselves both to keeping the use of disposable materials to a minimum, replacing them with reusable ones, and to promoting separate waste collection in the kitchen and at our customers’ premises, decreasing the share of undifferentiated waste. Just as for take-away orders, we use 100% recyclable and compostable materials for delivery and in-store orders, too. Not only that, given that we only have Italian suppliers, and many of the local ones are from Emilia, to further guarantee the excellence of our offer in terms of quality and sustainability, we will implement a supply chain project involving direct relations with farmers to follow the entire process: from sowing to the finished product. Finally, last year we published our sustainability report for the first time, proof our green commitment and how essential we believe it is to safeguard the environment. •